First Snow on Willow Flats, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

A late-September snow frosts the willows and aspen trees along Willow Flats in this photograph of Grand Teton National Park as Mount Moran rises into the clouds. This willow-filled valley provides ideal habitat for myriad creatures including elk, moose, bear, and countless birds. The dramatic escarpment of the Teton Range fills the scene in the background. This spectacular range of mountains is the result of a huge block of the earth’s crust being shoved skyward as an adjacent block sinks into the earth. Due to this sinking block east of the mountains and the resulting depression of the land, the Snake River has pooled at the base of Mount Moran to form Jackson Lake. While the summits of these peaks loom 7,000 feet above the valley floor, total displacement along this still-active fault has reached an incredible 33,000 feet.